Mad Dog
As the late John Balance of Coil was singing @ 4.30 a.m. in our house ‘the only thing to fear is fear itself’.
I knew the recent documentary on ‘Suicide dogs’ @ Overtoun House bridge was coming on tv ages ago. We were all looking forward to a close detailed study of the urban myth. I have friend & family connections to the actual house, that is situated in the Kilpatrick Hills just above Milton (no not that one!).
My wife, best friend & twin cousins were all born there & I have been shown around the interior with its beautiful ceilings & ornate angels & other marvellous artistic works. It is a place of calm & beauty. My sister in law was not convinced of this, as we attended an Xmas service a few years ago & she was suspicious of the foxes, owls & other night creatures howling in the mist.
Anyway back to the story: since the 1950s, 50+ dogs have felt some kind of urge to leap off of this bridge to their death. My own cousin can verify this, although his own ‘wonderdog’ survived to tell the tale. Thus I knew the story was true although I was not aware that there was so many canine casualities.
Various tests were carried out to try & explain this phenomena during the programme, the most reasonable one being the presence of a large number of mink in the area & their heavy scent may have sparked off this impulse.
We relayed this story to the happy highlanders & now they have some way to threaten ‘Jura’ truly a mad dog among mad dogs.
One factor not mentioned in the documentary, that covered signals from the Faslane naval base…etc..was the presence of the Milton cat & dog home at the foot of the hill.
For myself I can live quite happily with the unexplained, the irrational. In fact, I much prefer alternative realities to the rather dull rational explanations.
Writing this I am longing to hear an old album that I am sure I would enjoy again from Joe Cocker ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen’.
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